This invention relates to one or more panels containing a decorative image that can be affixed to a garage door. More particularly, this invention relates to illuminated decorative panels having seasonal, holiday, festive, or celebratory displays and are temporarily affixed to a movable garage door to provide an exterior decoration.
During certain times of the year, holiday, seasonal, and festive decorative objects are very popular. For example, between the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, it is common to decorate one""s home with decorative objects having a harvest or holiday theme, such as turkeys, cornucopias, snowmen, nativity scenes or Christmas trees. With the approach of the Easter holiday, images of Easter bunnies and crucifixion scenes are often included in residential decorative displays. In addition, when celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or a graduation, it is common to decorate the home with a celebratory display.
During the holiday season, one can see many homes and yards decorated to reflect the current season. Although of the house can be very well decorated, homes with front-facing garages often have a blank garage door. The garage door in many instances is the largest flat surface on the front of a house. This surface appears to be well suited for a large decorative display suitable for seasonal or festive events. One reason for the lack of decorations on a garage door is that the door is mechanical and must move up and down to operate. The use of decorative devices on the door could hinder the ability of the door to properly operate.
One solution is to have a flexible panel system that covers the surface of the door and provides a decorative scene without interfering with door operations. Permitting a garage door to open and close while covered with a decorative panel is not simple. It will be appreciated that a majority of garage doors are made of hinged door panels having lateral wheels that ride in a track. When a garage door is actively opening or closing, gaps are created between the panel at the hinges and the length of the garage door measured from the top-most door panel to the bottom-most door panel is relatively longer than when the door is in a closed position. Any decorative panel for a garage door must be able to remain on the exterior surface of the door and not be affected by the changes in lengths as the door is opened or closed.
A decorative panel system must be able to move from an open position to a closed position without buckling when closed or without getting caught in the gaps as the door is raised or lowered. Poorly designed panel systems will have a messy and undesirable appearance and may cause mechanical problems. A panel system too loose or too tight may not permit movement of the panel relative to the exterior surface of the garage door and may either prevent the garage door from fully opening or may cause inadvertent removal/tearing of the panel from the garage door when in operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,390 to Davidson describes a single panel flexible garage door cover, which when attached permits the garage door to open and close. The panel is draped over the front of a garage door and has upper and lower ends which extend around the upper and lower edges, respectively, of the garage door to the back of the garage door. The upper and lower ends of the panel are tethered together with elastic cords. As a result, when the garage door is opened, the elasticity of the cords permits movement of the panel relative to the garage door to allow the door to open. However, the door cover has several drawbacks. First, use of the cover requires a complicated and time consuming process to attach the webbing of elastic cords through eyelets in the cover and around axles of the garage door wheels. Second, the elastic cords place the cover, especially at the eyelets, under constant tension which requires the garage door cover to be made from a relatively thick flexible material. Third, when the door is an open position, the web of elastic cords extends between the upper and lower ends of the cover and thereby extends into the headroom of the garage. Fourth, the size of the single panel, which comprises the garage door cover, renders the cover relatively unsuitable for printing.
Since many garage doors are in segments, one approach to decorating a garage door is to use flexible decorative panels that cover the different garage door segments. These panels would fit together when the door is closed similar to a jigsaw puzzle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,803 to Zinbarg describes a garage door cover assembly for use on an exterior surface of a garage door of the type having a plurality of door panels permitted to rotate relative to each other when the garage door moves from a closed position to an open position is provided. The garage door cover assembly includes a plurality of horizontal cover panels and, for each cover panel, fixing members to couple the panel to a garage door panel. The cover panels are provided with fanciful holiday, seasonal, or other celebratory indicia. The indicia on the panels together form a composite illustration. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cover panels are made from a flexible, waterproof polyethylene.
Zinbarg and other patent designs devote their attention to the means to attach a display to a garage door such that the display does not interfere with the operation of the door. Another concern with a garage door display is the visibility of the display. Most holiday displays are set in the front lawn of the house. In addition, the house decorations usually include lights to illuminate the display. Display lights get viewer""s attention, enable people to better see the display and add to color and appearance of the display. Since a garage door is a large surface, lights on a garage door will make that display more visible at night. The previously mentioned patents do not discuss the issue of illuminating a garage door display. Therefore, there remains a need for an illuminated garage door display that can better present a garage door display at night.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a decorative garage door panel system that contains lights as part of the display.
It is another object of the present invention to have wiring in the display that connects the lights to a power source.
It is another object of this invention to have connectors that can enable a display that is implemented on a plurality of panels to be electrically connected to each other and to the power source.
It is a fourth objective of this invention to reflector type lights that do not require power to be illuminated.
It is another objective of the invention to provide a decorative garage door panel system which when attached to the surface of a garage door permits the garage door to open and close without the cover becoming detached.
It is another objective of the invention to provide a decorative garage door panel system that is held taut and has a clean appearance on the garage door.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a decorative garage door panel system that is easy to attach to a garage door.
It is an additional objective of the invention to provide a decorative garage panel system that is easily removable from a garage door.
It is also an objective of the invention to provide a decorative garage door panel system, which, upon removal, will not damage a garage door to which it is attached.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a decorative garage door panel system which is inexpensive to manufacture and can be made of lightweight materials.
Another objective is to the invention is to provide a decorative garage door panel system that is safe to operate and will not hinder the normal use of a garage door.
It is still a further objective of the invention to provide a decorative garage door panel system that is waterproof.
The present invention provides a garage door cover assembly for use on an exterior surface of a garage door. This garage door cover contains lights installed as part of the cover display. These lights can be electrically connected to a power source that supplies power to illuminate the lights when desired. The type of garage door for which the garage door cover assembly is designed can have one or a plurality of door panels permitted to rotate (pivot) in a sequential fashion relative to each other when the garage door moves from a closed position to an open position. Wiring extends through or behind each panel and electrically connects light receptacles that hold the lights. In addition, connector means enable the various panels to be electrically connected in a series or parallel fashion to a power source. The garage door cover assembly can include a plurality of horizontal cover panels, each approximately the size of door panel of the garage, and, for each cover panel, fixing means to couple the panel to a garage door panel. The cover panels are provided with fanciful holiday, seasonal, or other celebratory indicia. Preferably the image on the panels forms a composite illustration.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.